The Alternative Life
by dark-nuria
Summary: A boy befriended the Suakza No Miko!


Title: The Alternative Life

Rated:Pg-13

Summary: SPOLIER!!

Author Note: I don't NOT, I repeat NOT, own any characters and episodes through out this whole story. I own the plot and it oc as well. Another question will be responded later. 

Some screen should and sound similar because it plays right into the story. 

Chapter 1: Aitai

"Did Yui-chan go home?" Miaka wondered aloud, mind in shock. She could not imagine that Yui would just leave the library, without knowing that Miaka-- wherever she was--was safe. Surely Yui had noticed she was gone! Confused and worried, Miaka stepped inside a phone booth and inserted her card into the slot. She slowly dialed. The most likely place for Yui to be was at her home.

Miaka held her breath as the phone rang twice.

"Hongo desu ga," Yui's mother answered.

Miaka blinked. "Yuuki desu. Is Yui-chan there?"

Yui's mother sounded surprised. "Miaka-chan? How odd, isn't she with you? This morning, she told me she was going to the National Library after school**."**

The hope left Miaka's face, and she exhaled in an inaudible sigh. "Thanks anyway," Miaka dully replied. _Then Yui isn't home...but then...where is she? _The girl hung up the phone and exited the both. She paused on the sidewalk, one hand held thoughtfully to her lips, oblivious to the other pedestrians who passed her. She raked her mind for a possible answer for Yui's disappearance, but she could not find a reason why her friend would not be waiting for her in the library. _Mori and Fu-chan said it had been only two hours since Yui and I left them at the bus station. But...I was in Konan country for days! Two hours is nothing in comparison, surely Yui would have waited for me! _Mind still troubled, Miaka finally settled on the only comforting answer she could find. "Maybe she just isn't home yet."

Along the way towards her house, she bumped into a multicolor hair kid. She looked at him and apology. The kid just smiles and got up. "I am sorry for being so clumpish."

The kids just looks at her, "It's ok.  No one cares about me anyways."

Miaka looks at him with worry eyes. "What you mean, no one cares?"

The kid took a seat at the curb of the sidewalks, "No one wants to pay attention to me. It is like no one wants me to be near them."

Miaka sat next to him, "I know how you feel, but otherwise you're special!"

The kid looks at her again and saw something in her eyes, "Sorry to be rude but what is your name? My name is Mutou Yuugi."

Miaka looks at him with deep smile, "Oh it's alrihgt, My name is Yuuki Miaka. Are you from around here?"

Yuugi shook his head, "No I don't belong here. I am running away. Beside I am from Domino City."

Miaka got back up from the curb and slip on a candy wrapper, which sent her flying towards Yuugi , which cause him to hit the cement floor.

"I am so sorry!" Miaka said while blush. She tried to get back up and when she did, she helped Yuugi up.

"It's ok Yuuki-san." Yuugi said.

"Stop calling me that and call me Miaka." Miaka blurted back. "Beside you coming with me!" and she took his right arm and drag him to her house.

*-*-*-

The sounds of night insects chirruped outside under the cool, darkening sky. A few stars managed to shine through the combined glows of sunset and city, their feeble light twinkling in the dull air. Inside their family's high-rise apartment, Miaka's onii-chan, Keisuke, poured hot water into his cup of instant ramen. He did not turn at the squeal of the door opening.

"Tadaima," Miaka's emotionless voice announced. She walked past the kitchen, steps slow and without energy.

"Okairi," he greeted. When she did not reply, he glanced at her over his shoulder, concern fleeting across his face. Usually, Miaka stormed inside as her usual genki self, full of chatter and jokes. He considered her passing form for a moment, and then returned to his dinner with a mental shrug. Whatever was bothering her was probably nothing, anyway.

Miaka slowed her steps, then turned and walked back to the kitchen entrance. "Onii-chan?"

"Nani?"

"Have you ever heard of _Shijintenchisho_?"

"Nan da, sore?" he asked her with a trace of annoyance.

Yuugi looks at her and her onni-chan, "What is that?"

Miaka looks at him, "Onegai stay over there while I and my onni-chan talk!"

Yuugi nods and went to his destination.

Miaka and her onni-chan went into her room and talk.

Meanwhile, Yuugi was pacing around the room when a young lady came in.

"Oh, a guest! What your name?" the woman asked.

"My name is Mutou Yuugi! Nice to meet you!"

The woman just smile and sat on the couch.

Yuugi and the woman chit chat while the two were in the bedroom.

*-*-*

Miaka trotted down the stairs to find her mother sitting on the couch, talking to Yuugi. "Are...Onii-chan wa?" 

"At the bookstore," her mother answered. She paused for a second before continuing. "Miaka..."

"Nani?"

"Don't kill yourself over it."

"Nani yo?"

"The entrance exam."

Miaka's eyes narrowed and she wondered just how much her brother had revealed. "Onii-chan told you."

Yuugi looks at her with wide eyes, "Tell her what, Miaka?"

Her mother's gaze left to rest on her daughter's face. "If you fuss over it too much, you'll go nuts," she explained, and then offered as an example, "When he was preparing for his exam, your brother went insane and spent his time staring at porn magazines."

"That is not me," Miaka firmly replied.

"Don't worry so much," her mother insisted. "Miaka, you've become so serious about your studies that you're losing your focus and dwelling on ridiculous things."

Yuugi just nodded, "I agree with your mother! Please don't fuss over it!"

Miaka just nodded back. 

Miaka's breath grew short. _Ridiculous things??__ Tamahome?? _Her mind hardened. "I am not. It's not like that. It's not like that at all!" she cried, then turn and ran up the stairs back to her room.

Yuugi secretly followed her. 

*-*-*

Later that night, Miaka sat at her desk in a pool of light that shone down upon her from her overhead lamp. Her walls were plastered with self-made posters that encouraged her to study, and study hard. The girl's eyes stared down at her notebook, silently regarding the two kanji she had written on its pages.

"Tamahome...." she softly read.

Again, he appeared inside her mind's eye. Her gaze lingered upon his lovely gray eyes before his handsome face faded, replaced first with the mischievously smiling Nuriko, then, the stately Hotohori, who gently smiled at her.

Miaka's eyes trembled.

_"Miaka..."_ Tamahome's voice whispered in her ear.

"Tamahome!" Miaka gasped and reached out to touch him. He vanished. The girl whirled, trying to catch a second glimpse of him. "Tamahome!!" 

Instead of touching Tamahome, she touched Yuugi. 

"Who is Tamahome?" Yuugi ask out of curiosity. 

She stood next to her desk, fighting back tears. "Inai. Tamahome wa…kono sekai niwa…inai da."

Her legs lost their strength. Miaka huddled on the floor and wiped the tears from her eyes with a fist. _Tamahome__, no matter how much I love you and want to see you, you exist only inside a book!_ Miaka's heart cried out in pain.

Yuugi looks at her with weird expression. 'Miaka? I am worry about you!'

Keisuke's voice spoke again in her memory. _"Stay away from that book!"_

She shuddered. "Gomen, Onii-chan. I want to see Tamahome again, see him once more inside _Shijintenchisho_!" Miaka gasped with realization. Shijintenchisho_ no naka--masaka_. A flash of suspicion lanced painfully through Miaka's body. _Masaka ga, Yui-chan ga Shijintenchisho no naka ni?!_

Yuugi looks at her. "Who is Tamahome, Miaka! And Onii-chan is not here either!"

Miaka looks at him and smile regretfully, "Gomen Yuugi! Tamahome is no one!"

Yuugi look mad, "WHAT YOU MEAN NO ONE?" He lower his voice, "Gomen!"

Miaka looks at him with her heart. "Don't be! You can meet him once we go the library!"

Yuugi looks at her funny, "The library closes though!"

Miaka smile downward, "Not for me, I have to see him and Yui-chan!"

Yuuig looks at her again, "Who is Yui?"

Miaka just laugh, "Someone you will meet!"

And they both departed downstair.

Horrified, Miaka imagined Yui, crying her name as she fell towards the pages of the opened Chinese tome--and fading into the other world.

Miaka clenched her jaw and remembered that she had shelved _Shijintenchisho_ before she left the Important Documents Reference Room. "It never occurred to me." She snatched up her phone and once more dialed Yui-chan's phone number. Her friend's mother answered, voice laced with worry.

"Hai? Ah, Miaka-chan! She still hasn't shown up! She usually calls when she's late."

Mind racing, Miaka voiced a few comforting words and then placed the phone back on the receiver.

_Yui-chan__ still isn't home. We were together at the library in a room forbidden to the public. That's it--it must be! Yui-chan was pulled into the other world in my place!_

Yui-chan's smiling face gleamed at Miaka. She gasped and held her fingers to her lips, eyes trembling. _What could be happening to Yui, inside the pages of _Shijintenchisho__

Yuugi stared at her, "Miaka!" He waves his hand front of her blank face. "Earth to Miaka!"

Miaka jumped and looked at the worry Yuugi. "I am sorry Yuugi-chan! I was thinking."

Yuugi just sigh, "Yeah right for TWO minutes!"

They both laugh.

"Listen Yuugi-chan, we will have to pack food all right!"

Yuugi just nodded.

Stuffed backpack clenched tightly in her hands, Miaka stealthily tiptoed into the kitchen, her socked feet silent on the tile floor. 

Yuugi kept a watchful eye upon her mother in the den, who was absorbed in a family drama on the TV. 

Miaka quietly opened the refrigerator and snatched up packaged food, while her mother laughed and continued watching the glowing screen. She slunk to the pantry and pilfered more goods, stuffing as much as she could into her bag. Her mother completely unaware, the girl and boy escaped with her heavy load, her uniform's skirt making a near-silent swish as she escaped into the night.

Backpack slung into place, Miaka and Yuugi ran through their apartment building and between the iron columns of the courtyard's front entrance. They had made it.

Miaka saw the library and told Yuugi to stay at the entrance.

Yuugi looked at her and just simply smile.

Miaka determinedly walked up the flight of stairs that led to the door of the Important Documents Reference Room. Her hands clenched tightly around the straps of her backpack, she approached without fear, her jaw set and eyes narrowed. The door to the library had been unlocked when she cautiously tried it on her way inside, and no alarms had sounded as she passed through the immense lobby. It had been too easy. _Something wants me here, wants me back._

Small red lights led the way down the hall, and the door to the Forbidden Documents Reference Room opened in front of her under its own power, turning upon its hinges with a soft moan. Within the dark, _Shijintenchisho_ waited. It rested once again upon the cold tile, backlit with a deep, red glow.

She stepped inside the room.

"Miaka!" a familiar voice yelled from behind.

The girl froze, not wanting to turn around and confront them.

Her brother leaned against the doorframe, panting heavily from the hard run. "Where do you think you are going?!" he demanded through his deep breaths.

Yuugi just stared at the two arguing. 

"To save Yui-chan." She stared down at the book, her mind set and unwilling to stop her course of action. "Yui-chan has probably replaced me inside _Shijintenchisho_. I'm sure of it. The first time, I wasn't the only one absorbed. I have to hurry and help her!"

"You're still talking about that book! I told you to stay away from it!"

Yuugi was sure he was lost now. 'It seems so similar, like a legend my once-used-to-be Yami told me.'

"Onii-chan, this isn't just for Yui-chan. I feel I cannot escape until the last page of the book. Since I opened _Shijintenchisho_, from the moment I met Tamahome--" The girl quickly bent down and snatched the glowing book from the floor, before her brother had a chance to stop her. She hugged it tightly to her chest and turned to face him, her eyes pleading for him to understand.

Yuugi stared at Miaka with pleaded eyes.

"Onii-chan, please tell Okaa-san I'm sorry! I'm sorry Yuugi-chan"

The light instantly spread from the book to surround her. It blazed within the dark room, blinding and bathing everything in the color of blood. Her brother flinched away, squinted, and held up a hand to block the light. "Miaka!" he gasped out.

Eyes clenched shut, her grip on the book tightened. "I'm coming, Yui-chan-- Tamahome!"

Yuugi saw this happening and thought about it. He ran towards Miaka, unlike his brother. "MIAKA!!!" he shouted.

The red light intensified and climaxed with a painful, bright flash. The sound of space tearing filled the room, and with a roar, Miaka and Yuugi snapped out of existence. The red light faded, and _Shijintenchisho_ fell to land upon the tile with a cold, final _thud_.

Her brother could only stare, eyes wide with disbelief, at the empty place where his sister had once stood. 

"Uso da yo..." he whispered.

*-*-

Screaming, Miaka and Yuugi fell the instant they fully materialized. Miaka gracefully landed, back-end first, upon the Emperor's head. While Yuugi fell on the floor, Stray, tiny bolts of lightning crackled around them.

"That was strange, Miaka!" Yuugi looked at her.

"Heika!" the counselor's cried out in shock, each with his own sweatdrop.

Miaka sheepishly laughed from where she had slid to the floor, hanging onto the Emperor's shoulder with one fist. She was glowing with her success. "Hotohori, gomen!"

"Hotohori?" Yuugi asked questionably. 

He blinked once. "Mi--Miaka!" He looked at the floor and saw a stranger. He quickly unshed his sword and pulls it towards Yuugi's neck.

Yuugi was scared. "Mi-aka."

Miaka flinch. "No Hotohori, he my friend!"

Hotohori drew back his sword and apologized. "Gomen. I thought you was an intruder." 

Yuugi sweatdrop and just bow.

Expressions changing from shock to delight, the counselors all smiled with relief. "Suzaku no Miko! She's back!"

Miaka grinned and waved hello. "Yuuki Miaka, reporting for--"Miaka could only gasp as Hotohori snatched her off the ground and pressed her close against his chest.

Yuugi just smiled.

"I missed you terribly," he whispered in her ear, one hand cradling the back of her head.

"Hotohori!" Miaka's eyes trembled. _I didn't expect him to be this pleased to see me._ She softly blushed, and closed her eyes**.**

***-*-**

"Eh?! Three months have passed since I went home?!"

"Time flies rapidly," Hotohori's serious voice answered.

Miaka silently processed his revelation. "I lived here for a time, but when I returned home..." The events with her friends Mori and Fu-chan replayed in her mind. She could think of only one answer, "Time moves differently, here and there."

The Emperor did not seem to hear her. "While you were gone, we developed a little problem."

"Problem?" Yuugi stated it.

Hotohori turned to face Yuugi. Than he faced back to Miaka.  "Miaka, I have a request of you as Suzaku no Miko."

"Nani?" Miaka asked with quiet surprise.

"As quickly as possible, the remainder of Suzaku's Shichiseishi needs to be found."

The gravity of his request was lost when the weight of Miaka's backpack finally overcame her, pulling her flat onto her back on the floor. With a dismayed cry, she helplessly kicked her legs in the air.

Yuugi just laugh out loud.

Hotohori closed his eyes, his voice turned slightly exasperated. "Miaka, put down your pack and listen."

"Hai."

"Soldiers of Kutou Country are assembling at our borders."

"War?" Yuugi asked with dread.

"Since long ago, Kutou has wanted Konan."

"Ehhhhh?" Miaka's mind took a painful leap. _Yui-chan__, Yui-chan! What will happen to her?! If a war begins, and Yui-chan gets caught in the middle of it, what will happen to her?!_ Miaka took a step towards the Emperor and placed a beseeching hand upon his arm. "Hotohori, can you do something for Yui-chan?!" she pleaded.

"Yui-chan?"

"Her clothes are the same as mine, and she has short hair. Do you know her?"

"No, I don't."

"S--sonna!" _But if Yui-chan didn't land in Konan Country..._ "Then, where did she go?!" she finished out loud, horrified.

Yuugi just patted her back, "We will find her, Miaka-san."

Hotohori called Miaka back to the world with a hand placed on either of the girl's shoulders. "Miaka, we must assemble all seven Shichiseishi to invoke the power of Suzaku and protect Konan, " his voice echoed the urgency in his face.

Yuugi looks at her questionably, "What is the Shichiseishi?"

Hotohori took out a scroll, "Listen I will explain: Taiso-sama, the first Emperor of Konan. He was given this book by Taiitsukun, who manages this world."

Yuugi intrupet, "Manages it?"

Miaka laughs, "Same thing Tamahome say."

Hotohori clear his throat. 

"Sorry, please continue, Hotohori-sama."

"In truth, the four gods are twenty-eight constellations, divided into East, West, South, and North. Each has seven Shichiseishi. Ours, Suzaku, is in the Southern sky. It is the name of that quadrant of the sky. Its Shichiseishi are Chichiri, Tamahome, Nuriko, Hotohori, Chiriko, Tasuki, and Mitsukake. They are Suzaku's seven constellations."

The Emperor reached up with one hand to the collar of his white shirt. He moved the material aside, revealing the left side of his strong neck. Before their astonished eyes, a gleaming kanji appeared, shining forth in a blazing sea of red light.

Yuugi just gasped. "You..You..are.."

"I am one of them. But my is the sea snake. Tamahome is the Crab. He is Suzaku no Miko's guardian."

"Oh, that who Tamahome is. Hey, Miaka-san you never told me Tamahome was a.."

On cue, Miaka cover Yuugi's mouth and just laugh. "He meant a fighter."

Yuugi looks at her weird and clam down.

"_Shijintenchisho_ is about a girl who obtains the seven Shichiseishi of Suzaku. It reveals that everything she wishes comes true." Hotohori continued.

Yuugi looks at them both, "That means, if you find five more men with kanji on their bodies..."

"...then everything I wish will become true." Miaka finished with quiet wonder.

Hotohori nodded with her as well. "We already have three: me, Tamahome, and Nuriko. We need to find the other 4."

Yuugi looks at the ground, "Whose Nuriko?"

Miaka took Yuugi arm, which caused Hotohori face to be a jealous type, pulls.

"Come on, I show you who he is."

And they both ran out.

On their way there, Yuugi ask a bunch of questions.

Miaka responded all at the same time, "He is a crossdresser. I know you hate gay but he is just one."

Yuugi just smile, "It alright! I have use to know some gay people."

Miaka just smile and cheering him up.

Miaka tugs on Yuugi, "Run!"

Yuugi shouted, "You cheated!"

Miaka ran down the length of one of the palace's exterior walkways, expression serious with Yuugi behind them. Finding the remaining four Shichiseishi was much easier said than done. _First, I need to find Tamahome and we'll look for them together._

Attracted by the unusual sound of running shoes pounding the palace floor, a lithe, beautifully dressed form stepped out from a room and stared after the girl.

"Miaka?!"

Miaka skidded to a stop and turned. "Nuriko?"

"Yappari!" he cried.

They ran to each other and clasped their hands, happily jumping up and down, both shouting out, "Waiiii! Waiiii!" with joy at their reunion.

Miaka suddenly dropped Nuriko's hands. "By the way--"

Nuriko fell the floor in shock. He quickly leaped back up, sweatdrop prominent. "Don't get serious on me so suddenly!"

"Tamahome wa doko ni iru no?"

"Tamahome isn't here anymore."

"Eh?"

"He said he was going to earn some money and go back home. He left several days ago."

Miaka's energy vanished. "What? He didn't wait for me?" Her heart painfully jerked with realization. She had been left again.

Nuriko look at the right and saw a boy. "Who is that?"

Miaka look at Yuugi and just smile, "Name is Yuugi-chan. Yuugi-chan, my gay friend NURIKO!"

Nuriko just simply tease her. 

Yuugi just laugh. 'Great friends!"

*-*-*-

Hotohori sounded surprised. "Nani? You want to see Tamahome?"

"Un!"

"By yourself?"

Miaka cheerfully turned around to direct Hotohori's gaze beyond her. She smiled. "Nuriko and Yuugi will go with me!"

The Emperor looked out to see a young, slender man standing before him, dressed in a pink tunic, with a long, lavender braid slung over one shoulder. And to his right, he saw the boy he met before. "Nuriko?" he asked with disbelief.

"See? He's wearing men's clothes!" Miaka ran to the third Shichiseishi and grabbed his arm for a close hug. "He's pretty gorgeous!!!" She grinned happily at her discovery.

Yuugi laugh his head off.

Nuriko eyed the girl. "Well, it's a bit difficult to protect you in women's clothing," he pointed out.

Hotohori's face reflected his dislike of Miaka's wishes, but he finally closed his eyes and sighed with resignation. "Kutou spies are everywhere. Kiyotsukete da yo." He held up a red scroll, tied around the center with a brown ribbon.

"S--sore wa?" Miaka asked him at the unexpected gift.

"Suzaku no _Shijintenchisho_ da. The only clues to finding the remainder of the Shichiseishi are within this."

Miaka stared down at the innocuous roll of paper. 

"Taiitsu-kun will forgive me for giving it to you. Please, take it with you."

With unsure hands, the girl accepted the scroll, her mind wary and the tiniest bit frightened. _Suzaku__ no _Shijintenchisho_._

Yuugi was now totally confused.

*-*-*-*-

Their horses galloped down the dirt road, leaving Konan behind in a cloud of dust. Miaka's arms were wrapped tightly around Nuriko's waist; she leaned forward against him. As before on their quest to Mount Taikyoku, the girl was disguised in a loose, beige cloak. 

_This is a fine time for Tamahome to go off to earn money, _Miaka sourly reflected. Her thoughts turned, and uncertainty raked her heart. _Or is it just that he's forgotten me?_ She closed her eyes to try and sort out her fear. _It HAS been three months._

Unaware of his passenger's thoughts, Nuriko cheerfully commented, "You're a welcome sight! Tama-chan will be ecstatic!"

Miaka looked up at him, hope creeping back into her face.

"Are you alright, Yuu-chan?" Nuriko shouted.

"Yes I am!" Yuugi shouted back.

"After you left, Tamahome lost his focus and became absent-minded." Nuriko inwardly grinned at the memory of Tamahome perched on the guard-rails of one of the palace walk-ways, a dazed, lifeless expression on his face, and a bird's nest sitting on top of his head. Then, the time he kept trying to eat a place, his dumplings forgotten on the table in front of him as his teeth continually chomped down on the porcelain. "That's a plate," Nuriko had informed Tamahome with a sweatdrop. But his words had fallen on deaf ears.

Their horses' steady pace had finally left the bleak countryside surrounding the city behind, and the road now wound its way through a brightly lit forest. As if encouraged by their much more cheerful surroundings, Nuriko laughed and continued, "I wish you could have seen it!"

"Hontou?" Miaka doubtfully asked. _Will Tamahome really be glad to see me?_

"So don't worry!"

"Wh--why should I worry?!" Miaka bluffed.

Nuriko teased, "You're Tamahome's love."

"Uso!" she challenged. "Tamahome told me I wasn't!"

"What you guys left me out now?" Yuugi shouted.

"Something hilarious!" Nuriko shouted.

Nuriko offered his explanation with a humoring grin. "At the time, he didn't realize it." He turned his attention back to their road and gasped. The bright green trees and shrubs that had surrounded them had turned dark and gray. The cheerful sunlight seemed to shrink back into the sky, hiding behind thick, low clouds. The peaceful forest, so full of life and energy, had inexplicably vanished into something dark and twisted.

"What's with the weird dimness?" Nuriko asked, voice heavy with suspicion.

"Iya! It's getting darker!" Miaka cried with dismay.

Without warning, the blackness thickened. "Makura!" Nuriko agreed.

"Nuriko, are you going the right way??" Miaka demanded.

Their mount skidded to a stop and reared, screaming in fright. With a cry, Miaka tumbled over the horse's rump, landing in a crumpled heap upon the ground. Nuriko quieted the horse as quickly as he could.

"Anata daijoubu?!"

Miaka gritted her teeth against he pain and tried to sit up. Her cloak had been cast off by the fall and laid behind her upon the dank, gray grass. She looked up to answer Nuriko and gasped. 

Yuugi look at Nuriko. "YOU LOST WHAT?"

Nuriko had to look at him. "Shhh.."

A dark, sinister figure loomed over her, faceless in the dim light. His hand grasped the handle of a razor-sharp scythe.

"What—what are you doing?" Miaka demanded, too annoyed at the interruption to be afraid.

"Who are you?" he demanded, voice sharp.

Miaka gasped. "Ima no koe…" she whispered.

Other men appeared out of the darkness behind the speaker, their torches casting warm orange light upon both of their faces.

The speaker's eyes widened. "Miaka…" His voice was soft, and shock reflected in his eyes.

She stared back. "Tamahome…"

The two did not move, stiffly standing face-to-face in the torchlight. Their eyes held each other still. Tamahome finally broke from the trance and took one step forward. He raised his hands to cup the girl's face. "Miaka…hontou ni omae ka?" He spoke softly, as if afraid his words might scare the mirage away.

Miaka stood, riveted by the warmth of his skin against her own. 

"It was only three months, but it felt like one thousand years." His eyes softened.

A blush spread across her cheeks, and Miaka's trembling eyes filled with tears. The only sound she could manage was a small sigh of agreement before her hands reached up to cover his. "Tamahome." She could not keep the sound of tears from her voice. Miaka threw herself into his arms, pressing her tear-stained cheeks into the warmth of his tunic. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her soft hair. They held each other, completely separated from their surroundings and the passage of time. 

"I missed you," she whispered, then lost the energy to speak. _Atatakai. I can hear your heart beating. I don't care if he really is from another world. I want to stay like this!_

They slowly released their embrace and watched each other, Miaka standing close against him, his hands resting on her shoulders. Her eyes trembled up at his face, the face she had returned to _Shijintenchisho_ to see.

_I love him so much._

He smiled. "You look like you are feeling better," his voice was warm. He reached up with his right hand and gently wiped the tears from Miaka's left eye.

She returned his smile. "Un!"

The sound of Nuriko clearing his throat reverberated through the clearing. The couple jumped, suddenly realizing that they were at the center of a very curious circle of male onlookers. The pair leaped apart, large sweatdrops on both of them.

Miaka just laugh.

"Who is that?" Yuugi said to Nuriko.

Nuriko just shrug, "That is Tama-chan!"

Yuugi laugh, and Tamahome looked at the boy.

"Oh that my new friend, Yuugi-chan."

Tamahome was really agiated, "I will kill him."

"Touch him, you make sure I won't talk to you ever again," Miaka threaten him.

One of the men spoke, "Tamahome-san, sono hito-tachi

 wa?" 

The girl and Nuriko walked up to either side of him. He raised his left hand to pat the top of Miaka's head. "This is Miaka, also known as Suzaku no Miko." 

The men gasped.

Tamahome pointed at Nuriko over his shoulder with his right thumb. "This guy's gay."

Nuriko barely stifled an indignant comeback and settled for smacking the back of Tamahome's head.

He quickly recovered. "But seriously, he's one of Suzaku's Shichiseishi, Nuriko.

Nuriko held one hand to his cheek and smiled most fetchingly. "Desu!"

Tamahome looked down at Miaka. "You know about Kutou Country, right? Because of that situation, there are suspicious men about. For a fee, I work for these people as a bodyguard."

Yuugi eye him supicously, 'Was Yami right about this legend?' "Be careful Miaka!"

Miaka nod and look at Tamahome.

Miaka's eyes shone up at him, so relieved to hear his warm voice that she almost did not hear what he was saying.

"Having me around makes them feel relatively safe," he cheerfully concluded.

_Tamahome hasn't changed. I am glad._

The men's torches sputtered out, sending the clearing and surrounding woods back into the gloom.

"Doushita?!" Tamahome shouted.

One of the men cried, "There's no wind, but the fire blew out!"

Tamahome's voice grew more urgent. "Hayaku! Relight it!"

Unsure what she could do to help, Miaka stood still, not understanding the urgency of the men. From the darkness behind her, a pair of large hands slowly emerged, fingers spread. They soundlessly moved up on either side of her and quickly clamped together over her mouth.

The girl gasped at their strong grip, shock ripping through her.

"MIAKA!!!!" The trios, Yuugi, Tamahome, and Nuriko shouted.

*-*-*-

**_"Suzaku no Miko was grabbed by suspicious hands in the darkness."_**

Keisuke no koe tripped over the last few words, read with disbelief and fear from the dusty pages of Shijintenchishou. The chill air of the Important Documents Reference Room slowly steeped through his clothes, but his hands where they clutched the book were slick with nervous sweat, and his heart pounded inside his chest. Suzaku no Miko might be more than just a some fictional character in a forgotten book--if Miaka was right....Suzaku no Miko could be his little sister.

*-*-*-

Trying to scream around the hands, Miaka was yanked backwards off her feet, and she vanished into the dark forest.

Tamahome whirled at the muffled sound of her cry, eyes flaming. "Miaka!"

She was gone.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

The end of chapter one!! What you think?

Tasuki: I think I will join Ren soon!

Oh shut up!

Bakura:*whine* you haven't finished my story?

I never started on it.

Bakura: YOU BETTER!!

Please read and review!!


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